1978 — Dec 7, Tenement House Fire (7 children, 5 adults), Central Ward, Newark, NJ– 12

— 12 Jones. “1978 Multiple-Death Fires…” Fire Journal, Vol. 73, No. 4, July 1969, p. 38.
— 12 National Fire Sprinkler Association. F.Y.I. 1999, 6.
— 12 Newark Fire Department. Newark Fire Department History…1797-2014. (Webpage)
— 12 Newark Public Library. “High Street Inferno Took 27 Lives [1910]…” 7-2-1998.
–11-12 NYT. “11 Killed in Newark Blaze; Firemen Searching for 12th.” 12-8-1978, p. A1.

Narrative Information

Jones: “Residential

Tenement, Newark, New Jersey. Twelve residents died in a fire in this 100-year-old, three-story, wood-frame tenement building. The cause of the December 7, 1978 fire is listed as undetermined. The fire reportedly began in the first-floor hallway and spread rapidly up an open stairway, trapping many of the occupants on the upper floors.

“The fire was discovered at approximately 12:15 am, but Fire Department records show that the first report was received at the fire alarm office at 12:44 am. First-arriving fire fighters found the building fully involved and were unable to attempt rescue. A second alarm was ordered at 12:53 am.

“The long delay between the discovery of the fire and the notification of the Fire Department plus the age and condition of the building all contributed to the large loss of life in this fire.”

Newark Fire Department. Newark Fire Department History…1797-2014:
“….Tragedy struck in the early morning hours of December 7, 1978 when a fire was reported at 569 South 12th Street, a three story frame. Arriving units found a condition of almost total involvement. Before the fire was subdued the building was completely destroyed and 12 people had lost their lives.”

Newark Public Library. “High Street Inferno Took 27 Lives [1910]…” 7-2-1998:
“Twelve Newark residents also were killed in a blaze on December 7, 1978, in a tenement. As in other cases, fire officials said the problems of fighting fires in Newark centered on the huge number of deteriorating houses built before 1940.”

Newspaper

Dec 8, NYT: “Newark, Dec. 7 — Eleven persons, including seven children, among them a 2‐year‐old girl, died early this morning when a fire raced through a three‐story tenement in the decaying Central Ward here.

“Late this evening, firemen poked through the smoldering rubble searching for a 12th resident of the century‐old frame building who is missing and presumed dead.

“Among the victims were a 37‐year‐old woman, Dorothy Jackson, and her five children, who ranged in age from 4 to 12. Her companion, Richard Brown, escaped death with them by jumping from a second‐story window, suffering only a broken wrist. Twelve other persons escaped.

“Francel Scott, 47, who led his wife and five children to safety through dense smoke and flames down the back stairs of the building, said six of his relatives —two sisters, a brother‐in‐law and three nieces — had died. Watching the firemen poking through the ruins, he said he had seen one sister at a window and had called to her to jump to safety, ‘but she didn’t.’ ‘I ran back up the stairs,’ he continued, ‘but when I got to about three feet from her door the flames were just too much. When I got back downstairs, I didn’t see her anymore. I guess she was overcome.’

“The Fire Department Arson Squad is investigating reports that a man was seen running from the building, at 569 South 12th Street, some time after midnight, just before flames erupted, trapping many of the victims who were asleep at the time.

“The fire marshals are also investigating allegations that the landlord had threatened to burn the building, as well as charges by relatives of those who perished that the first fire engine arrived at the scene more than a half an hour after calls were made to New Jersey Bell asking them to report the fire.

“The landlord of the building, Reuben Ritz of Springfield, was incredulous when told of the allegations. ‘Why should I want to burn the house down?’ he asked. ‘This building has been in my wife’s family for more than 40 years. We have the best tenant‐landlord relationships possible. It’s such a tragedy.’ He said that he had completely rewired the building a few years ago and recently had a new oil burner installed. ‘Everything was perfect,’ he said.

“Mr. Scott said that when he emerged neighbors told him that the Fire Department had already been notified, but that the first fire engine did not arrive until much later. ‘It took about 30 minutes before the fire truck came,’ he said as he surveyed the still‐smoldering hulk. ‘I told them that there were still three families trapped in the building, but they just took their time. Nobody tried to go in and get them out. They just waited for the other truck. They could have saved some of them if they had gone in when they first arrived.’

“Ethel Goethe, who lives across the street from the fire scene, said she had called the telephone operator at about 12:15 A.M. to say that there was a fire in the building where her cousin, Mrs. Jackson, lived. ‘When I called the operator she said that they had already been notified,’ she told a fire marshal. ‘I didn’t do it in the dark. I had turned on the light and I had looked at my clock. It said a quarter after 12. The trucks didn’t get here until about 20 to 1.’

“Rosie Lee Jackson, whose daughter and five grandchildren died in the blaze, said other neighbors had told her that they had also notified the telephone company about the same time. Newsmen noted that the kitchen clock in the Jackson home, where Mrs. Goethe lives, was about 10 minutes fast.

“However, Fire Director John P. Caufield said that the first report of the fire was received by the department from a woman caller and was recorded at 12:44 in the morning. He said that a second alarm, from firemen already on the scene, came in at 12:53, just nine minutes later, and that this meant the trucks had arrived within a ‘few minutes of the first call. ‘We didn’t get any calls from telephone company operators,’ Mr. Caufield said. ‘I checked on that. All our calls are taped.’

“Throughout the day, firemen, aided by a crane, went through the grim task of sifting through the rubble of the building looking for bodies of those who perished. As neighbors watched from across the street behind police lines, a crane lifted off a section of the collapsed roof at about 9 A.M. and the bodies of six victims were uncovered.

“There were only two other buildings on the rubble‐strewn block on the west side of South 12th Street, a two‐story garage and a three‐story frame residence immediately north of the tenement.

“Helen Prude, who lived on the first floor of the building with her husband and small child, said she had been asleep at the time of the fire. ‘I woke up because I heard a popping noise and I smelled smoke,’ she recalled as she waited on the porch of a house across the street. ‘I hollered, ‘Fire, fire,’ and then I got out.’

“In addition to the Jackson family, firemen listed the victims as Mr. and Mrs. James Thomas and their two daughters, Dewey, 3, and Starfu, 2; Marie Scott, about 90, and her 21‐year‐old daughter, Linda. Firemen were also checking reports that a friend of Miss Scott, who went to school with her, had been visiting and had not returned home. The girl’s mother, Beatrice Joyner, theorized that her daughter, Garlinda, may have slept at the Scott residence.”

Sources

Jones, Jon C. “1978 Multiple-Death Fires: Smoking Materials Lead Ignition Sources.” Fire Journal, Vol. 73, No. 4, July 1969, pp. 33-40.

National Fire Sprinkler Association, Inc. F.Y.I. – Fire Sprinkler Facts. Patterson, NY: NFSA, November 1999, 8 pages. Accessed at: http://www.firemarshals.org/data/File/docs/College%20Dorm/Administrators/F1%20-%20FIRE%20SPRINKLER%20FACTS.pdf

New York Times. “11 Killed in Newark Blaze; Firemen Searching for 12th.” 12-8-1978, p. A1. Accessed 6-22-2021 at: https://www.nytimes.com/1978/12/08/archives/11-killed-in-newark-blaze-firemen-searching-for-12th-sister-failed.html

Newark Fire Department. Newark Fire Department History…1797-2014. (Webpage) Accessed 6-22-2021 at: https://nfd.newarkpublicsafety.org/history.php

Newark Public Library. “High Street Inferno Took 27 Lives [1910] but Helped Bring Reform.” 7-2-1998. Accessed 6-22-2021 at: https://knowingnewark.npl.org/high-street-inferno-took-27-lives-but-helped-bring-reform/